Finally!

*Multiple POV*

There was only one opening left, the tunnel on our right. With the map we could tell where another path that would reconnect back would be. We increased our pace down this path slowly but surely.

The voices behind us started fading into the distance as well. After a few more turns and tunnels we no longer saw any trace of them, maybe we even escaped them.

Another glace at the map and I noticed we're almost at the exit. Unexpectedly there weren't many obstacles to get out. I felt like those people from before should of been ahead of us and trying to stop us or something.

'Am I just jinxing it or is it at the very end? They couldn't possibly of just lost us right? They were supposed to be invaders of this place though maybe they got lost. Whatever happened to them this couldn't possible be the last time they meet Chen Huang, right?'

***

(Stronghold Invader POV)

I was in the middle of a whole crowd of armed men. Our expressions varied from person to person, but it was generally discontented. Some were angry, some were a little bit scared, and some were confused.

"Where the fuck are we?"

"How did we lose that group of people? We literally almost encircled them!"

"We were so close! What happened?"

"Did they turn invisible or something?"

"Hey guys! I think we're lost or something."

"What do you mean we're lost?"

"I've seen that same wooden door three times already!" the man pointed at a door that had a small splatter of blood on it.

"So what about the door? Every door in this place looks the exact same as that one."

"But that door has blood on it! There is no way I wouldn't be able to notice something like this."

"No, no w-we can't be lost! We've just been going in circles!"

"Couldn't that be worse then? What if we tripped some formation or something?"

"..."

"We're trapped! Help Help!"

"Who are you screaming for? We're the only ones here!"

I looked at everyone and thought about our situation when the man next me started moving. As one of the man's appointed guards I of course had to follow along.

He made his way over to the door one of the members pointed out, slowly and steadily. He lifted up his hand to touch the blood splatter on the wall. He reached down into his robes before pulling out some item that I couldn't really get a good look at.

After maybe five minutes of him doing something near the blood splatter it suddenly morphed at random for a moment or two before starting to fade away.

The supposed blood splatter must of been the heart of the formation. Our surroundings didn't look any different though. There was only one way for us to find out if it worked.

***

(MC POV)

We were basically at the end and the final part of the map led us into a room of some sort. Everyone went in one by one still a little bit cautious, probably from being found earlier. I was the second to last one to enter and when I went in the room. The final person that entered closed the door behind me when they made it through.

When I entered I finally saw the interior; the place must of been some storage room. But when looking in one of any of the nearby containers they were empty, maybe it would have just been future storage for anything. The containers were fairly large and with two stacked atop each other it would be around two meters tall, obscuring most people.

"It's over here!" The high-pitched voice of Hu Tian slightly echoed throughout the room. She ran behind a few containers which completely hid her.

"Hey, wait for me!" Kong He followed after her, and shortly after the rest of us did as well.

Behind the containers Hu Tian stood in front of a oddly placed door. She looked at us with a big smile as she had her arms spread out.

"Look, look this is the way out!" The excitement in her voice was clear, she turned around and opened it revealing a long stairway going up. The path was dark, but who cares about the light right now? As long as this was actually a way out light won't matter in a little while.

Without any further notice she began dashing, almost jumping up the steps.

Everyone took a glance around at each other before we started ascending up the steps as well. Someone had already been holding a lit talisman while we've been walking so as soon as we walked in the stairway brightened. I saw the silhouette of the two children only maybe half a dozen steps ahead.

Our group walked up the steps with a more steady jog like pace. The kids ran maybe three to four dozen steps before they started slowing down to more of a walking speed. After half a minute we caught up with them and they began to just jog with us.

There was no end in sight though, only the darkness was seen at the end . We had no idea how far the steps went on for, nor did we know why close we were to the end.

The movement speed of the group slowed down as well eventually to a walk so the children could keep up with us and so we could save a little bit of energy as well.

The only noises that remain are the sounds of our shoes hitting the ground over and over again. Just like when we came down, only this time we were ascending back to the surface.

'Wait a minute we went down there to find some treasures or something. I didn't really find anything of the sort like that! I'm not carrying a single thing from down there, Fuck. Maybe I should of looked through the bookcases some more and brought a souvenir at least.'

Soon we spotted a light of light coming from the top. We converged at the light source only to realize the light was coming from the cracks of a slanted double door. There was a single log that locked the door from inside.

We lifted the log up and dropped it to the side before pushing both doors open at the same time. The light came down upon us only for us to realize it's the light of the moon. Everyone quickly left the staircase through the opened doors once realizing nothing was wrong.

"Finally! We're out of there!" Someone said a feeling probably shared by everyone.

Some sat down, a few just walked around, and the rest just looked around from where they exited. I was one of the latter.

Our light was no longer useful as the moon lit up our surrounds. Our vision was basically restored when we returned outside. That time inside made me feel like I was playing a horror mod for a really old video game.

Thinking back, the time we spent inside didn't even past a day, yet it felt like forever. Now that we were finally outside again we could tell we were in there the entire day.

Finally taking a look at our surroundings I make a few notes about our location. The exit which we left from was at the base of a mountain and the doors faced a forest. We were currently at the seam of two biomes right now: a mountainous one and one of a forest.

Where should we go now? That was the question on my mind and probably at least another person here right?

"What do we do now? We didn't really have a plan originally either so do we just go back to roaming the area until something happens?" The medical girl Cheng Yun spoke up.

"Let's go find one of our other groups, maybe we could stay with them until the time ends."

"Before that stronghold event I wanted to go my separate way, but now I think I'll just stay with the group. Whatever you all decide I'll be with you all."

"Yeah, I don't think I really have a chose if I want to live."

"We just have to avoid the other sects, they might try something if they see us like this."

"Why don't we just keep going like this?"

"..." Everyone turned towards the voice who said those things and it turned out to be Chen Huang. When some realized who spoke they showed a few surprised looks.

"Why would we continue when almost half of our group is gone and-"

"Simple, there won't be as much chaos when we encounter something. If the enemy is too strong we wouldn't be noticed as easily and we'll be faster since our group is smaller. We also wouldn't have to share anything we find with other groups. Infighting happens a lot, even for minor things such as originally being a different group or jealousy."

'That last one is quite large especially so for different races in my world or even religions. I wonder what will happen when those people meet different species of intelligent life like Li Lian. They'll probably freak out and maybe even start another world wide slave trade. Hopefully not though.

People will freak out about this, but I bet some are all too happy about this. What will happen when some "furries" meet real creatures that are animal human hybrids.'